My Nonfiction Picks
Posted By Vonna on August 31, 2009
For the past six years I have been a volunteer in the elementary school library. This has given me an excellent opportunity to see what books kids will select on their own without adult interference. Though I know that librarians and teachers have much greater experience than I do on this matter, I’d like to share my observations on trends in the kids’ nonfiction selections:
Animals: Girls check out more books about pets, while boys choose more books about wildlife. Boys liked books about any kind of animal except mammals. The only mammals boys typically selected books on were prehistoric.
Biography: These books were only chosen under duress. As far as I can recall, no child ever selected a biography unless it was either for a class assignment or a parent came into the library with them and insisted the child check it out.
Cooking: Boys and girls equally, if seldom, choose these.
Comics: Boys only. In six years I never saw a girl check out a book of comics.
Dinosaurs: I know this should be listed under animals, but since it is by far the most popular category it deserves its own listing. Boys, particularly grades Pre-K through 3rd.
Friendship: Girls. There were not enough nonfiction books that dealt with fitting in.
History: Boys only, usually books about war, weapons and armor.
Hobbies: Origami was popular with both boys and girls.
Jokes: Boys.
Riddles: Boys and girls.
Poems, particularly humorous poems: Mostly boys.
Science: Planets/outer space books were most popular with boys, but sometimes girls checked them out, too. Boys liked books about weather. Both boys and girls were intrigued with books about science experiments at home, but after returning them their enthusiasm had faded. The coolest experiments required parental supervision but it seems the parents were not as enthusiastic as the child.
Sports: Boys, particularly grades 4th and 5th. Next to dinosaurs, this was the most popular category. Books about an individual athlete were less popular than those about teams or about the sport in general, but were still popular. This is the only category where biographies came into play.
When I am making my selections for my nonfiction pick of the month, I aim for books that fill a gap or give a fresh look at a subject that I know is a favorite with elementary school kids. Though biographies clearly are not on this list, some interesting biographies have been released recently that tap into the nonfiction subjects that appeal to kids, as in the sports section. For instance, last month’s pick The Day-Glo Brothers, picked up on kids’ interest in science experiments. This month’s selection, One Beetle Too Many, may appeal to kids who enjoy books about bugs.
If any of you have recommendations of recently released nonfiction books with great kid-appeal, I’d love to hear from you.
Thanks, Jim. I’m glad to hear from you.